That's like saying my daughter failed to capitalize on flying by leaping into the air and flapping her arms. Anonymity will never make anyone any money because it brings out the worst in people. And I'll go against the grain by saying that local apps won't, either. NextDoor requires real names, sends you a postcard to verify you live where you live, and on and on and on. NextDoor is good for: - putting up ads for shit you're too lazy to craigslist and expecting someone to bite - freaking out about Mexicans you saw parked in front of your house that are obviously part of a theft ring - griping about that tax levy that passed overwhelmingly - complaining about how your neighbor's dogs bark loudly or cat howls at night By the time I'd bailed, there was one semi-useful thread about where to find good Mexican. It had 130 comments. Five restaurants were discussed. They failed to capitalize on the very thing the app got popular for: anonymity.
In Oakland, it's pretty much turned into a OPD PR mouthpiece.
"Our cybers branch has a mole, a deep embed (code jockey), with snooping tools that already has logged your Internet codes, @fuckTheSPD69doggy, and I can tell you right now that (1/2)"
"you had better take this all very seriuosly. (2/2)"
I'm at the shoelace part, and I'm already absolutely dis-fucking-gusted. Dark :(. I'm not sure I can continue, the ending has already been foreshadowed both here and in the narrative, and this is really fucked up. Too many sad feels for me, right now. I dunno how to combat it except everyday vigilance.